A Thursday of Frozen Mist and Silhouettes

Thursday, November 26, was a chilly morning, but less so than the previous ones. Most of the snow and ice from earlier in the week was on retreat as the subzero temperatures had tripped clumsily over the freezing line and tumbled onto the plus side of the thermometer. Winters tend to be like that in the southern parts of Norway these days. And there was fog, or rather mist, which does something to the late morning sun when it’s low in the sky. Moments disappear as quickly as they come, so it’s a matter of capturing the shadows and silhouettes before they find somewhere else to play.

The beginning of my trot from the bus stop to the office is an uphill climb, with silhouettes of trees and people ahead of me. Three quarters of a mile left to walk.

There’s a fusion reactor hovering in the air in front of me. Given the chance, it would burn our world to a crisp in the blink of an eye, which would then also be burned to a crisp. Yet on a larger scale, it’s really not even very big.

The last three hundred metres or so of the path leading to the office. I know this, because those are too many lamp-posts to be in Narnia. There’s also a disturbing shortage of lions.

Same as above, but with different white balance. The previous one is pretty close to how it looked for real, but I think the blue hues in this one makes it look colder, more wintery. Which one do you think looks better? If you have an opinion to share, please feel free to leave a comment about this below. I do like a good comment, I do.

Final one hundred metres. The triangular protrusion on the right is the eastern end of the northern wing of the building where I work, and in full glory it looks almost like a gigantic stranded spaceship. Interestingly enough, though it’s not particularly blue, it also seems bigger on the inside. Conversely, seen from straight above at considerable altitude, it bears a slight resemblance to the Eye of Sauron.

Though the air is well above the freezing point of water, some ice crystals still manage to form out of the droplets of mist condensed on leaves and twigs in the shadows. The mist itself keeps direct sunlight from thawing everything, at least for a little while. In fact, in the whole place looks a little as if Elsa had been having a grumpy day, but that’s just a hypothesis.

Where does the sea end? There is no sky, no horizon, no other side. If you sailed out from the shore, would you go on forever? Or would you said straight into the sky?

That orange floater was the only hint of real colour among its foggy, near-greyscale surroundings. It almost seems to be floating in mid-air! Or maybe it is. Can be hard to tell, and it’s not as if I’m going to wade out to check.

Bonus Shot of the Night Sky in Silver and Blue: Clouds backlit by silver lunar light from a hidden full moon. Can you spot the constellation of Orion? You’ll probably have to click the image to check out the bigger version. I know at least some of its stars should be relatively easy to find; the belt is a giveaway. Personally, when I took the picture, I thought the sky looked as if the clouds had been painted on. However, this reminds me I need a real wide-angle lens, to capture more sky — there’s just too much sky up there to properly grab it all with eighteen millimetres.

I may have to brighten this last one up a bit. If you come back later and it looks less dark, you will know that I’ve done just that.